Mark Webber took pole position for the British Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Sebastian Vettel, with Fernando Alonso in third just a tenth of second off pole position. The McLarens were over a second behind with Jenson Button, while Lewis Hamilton was disappointed to be down in 10th place for his home Grand Prix.

Webber said that the front row lock out didn’t prove anything after the row over the throttle mapping in the run up to qualifying. At an emergency meeting of the Technical Working group it was decided that the cars would all run with 10% throttle open when the driver lifts off, Red Bull’s least favoured option.

“The last three years our team has turned up early and left late. What has happened in last few months is years of preparation to put ourselves in this position. It’s all about interpretation of rules. We’re still here, I don’t think the fans are 1% interested in the technical thing. Let’s just keep the rules simple and get on with the racing.”

Alonso, who survived a scare in Q1 when he went off track into some mud but managed to get out again, said it was Ferrari’s best qualifying of the season, “We are closer than ever. Today we are quicker and tomorrow we can put some pressure on them.”

All the cars rushed out at the start of qualifying because showers were forecast and after a few minutes light race started falling. Fernando Alonso went off track but managed to escape by driving through a muddy section.

Most drivers were carrying a few laps worth of fuel and turned a series of laps in Q1, rather than go out for a single lap blast.

Daniel Ricciardo was making his debut for Hispania this weekend but he wasn’t able to do enough in the brief period when the track was dry at the start. He qualified half a second slower than team mate Tonio Liuzzi.

The rain fell heavily with five minutes of Q1 remaining and Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen had by then done a great job to get ahead of both Toro Rossos, who were knocked out.

In Q2 there was a tough decision to be made on what tyre to run as there were some damp patches, especially around Copse corner, while the south side of the circuit was dry enough for slicks.

The rain stopped and the track began to ramp up very quickly and the lap times tumbled. It was all about timing, being on the soft tyre at the right time. Two men who used to excel in these conditions were eliminated, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Paul di Resta again beat his team mate, Adrian Sutil, the seventh time in nine races. He ended up in sixth place, his best grid slot of his F1 career to date. Pastor Maldonado got through into the top ten for the third time this season.

Clearly the blown diffuser was working best for Sebastian, and that has shown this weekend. If they do end up getting rid of the blown diffuser for the rest of the year, I'd expect Mark to dominate Sebastian. Looks to me like you're an angry fanboy? ...[mod]

Pretty easy to out qualify your team mate when everything is handed to you on a silver platter, including your team mates front wing and a car that is built entirely around you whilst your team mate has to struggle to adapt. Anyway, even playing field now with the regulation changes and guess what? Vettel will back to the pack.

Yes, know why it was a great qualy? Because saving the joke-shop tyres was rendred largely irrelevant by the conditions. The new tyres have ruined qualy (one part of F1 that was perfect before this year!)

As I understand it all the cars will revert to the Valencia spec from now on and the decision that was painfully obvious will be the one that wins out: leave it until the end of the season! Between this and Bharain - why is F1 incapable of taking, what is obviously the right decidion to the rest of the word, frist time? People are being paid WAY too much, way beyond thier level of competence. I am an average Joe and I would have made the right decidion both times - because it was so blindingly obvious!

What's the result? No British driver realistically in with a chance of winning their home gp. Thanks F1, thanks a bunch.

How much confusion has been spread and how much have the teams wasted trying to prepare for Silverstone regulations to have them changed and then thrown out at the last minute?

Mansell just said on bbc that some teams have gotten hold of some fancy Nasa carbon fibres to put on their cars. WOULD LOVE TO KNOW more about that james and see how they are used differently from "ordinary" carbon fibre.

Well one of the early problems with the hot blown diffusers was they were melted by the exhaust gasses. NASA have developed some trick carbon fibre for the space program which can resist extremely high temperatures and it's now finding commercial applications everywhere.

I imagine one or more teams have spotted this stuff and are using it for the heat sensitive parts of the bodywork, also there are self-lubricating carbon fibre bush assemblies out there which are used in foundries etc and these probably could have applications in F1 too.

I don't think it's the witchcraft which Mansell suggests it is, just the usual adoption of high end materials in F1.

Google returns *tons* of stuff on NASA high temperature CF if you're interested.

There should be no great leap in carbon fibre technology, may be a small one, but nothing of significance. Not until they manage to produce large enough graphene sheets that is. Then carbon will be history.

Well, to have a chance at Ferrari, he must beat Alonso regulary from begining as Hamilton did in 2007. Now we all know how that worked out, Alonso demanding no 1 status. Ferrari is not option for anybody (who want to become a world champion)as long as Alonso is there, and after he quits Vettel is probably to take over. So, if Hamilton joins Redbull, then seat is availble at McLaren and if he don't there is seat availble at Redbull after Webber retires.

Come on John, you know what I mean. Hamilton suprised everybody including him self in 2007. He matched two time world champion Alonso (had lead over from race 3 I think)in his rookie season! My point is that it's hard to beat Alonso (one of the best driver ever) and if (big if) you do then you can expect Alonso reacting.

Di Resta's attitude is different from Hamilton's, from what I have I have seen so far. I think he would see it as a learning experience until Alonso's time is up and he might even beat Alonso from tome to time. Ferrari have said that the door is not closed to another top driver just because Alonso is there.

McLaren's magic bullet to their pre-season problems was Red Bull style blown exhaust. James, do you believe that the discussions will result in a reinstatement of Valencia regulations or will Williams and Sauber maintain their stance?

Well done redbull Ferrari and di resta. Losers are mclaren so far anyway. Too early to make a judgement after a day like that. Rules going back to what they were again anyway. Saves all the idiots going on about fia favouring Ferrari again anyways.

That Ferrari was linked with FIA was often said with much justification in the past does NOT make one an idiot. Whether that is true currently is another matter.....although Ferrari have remained silent on the FIA imposed off throttle gases issue....I wonder why?

Hhmmmm, that Qualy was well.... interesting. Great to see Kovalainen be the fastest of the slow. Kinda disappointed in Renault/Lotus. I knew the Diffuser change would hurt them, but look at Red Bull! They are still on top. I think we will know more after the next few races. Silverstone is a bit special. Can't wait for the race tomorrow. Best of luck to di Resta!! Great Qualy for him today.

Yes, a bit insulting to most enthusiasts (as opposed to fanboys) to be told we 'don't understand it', when all we have been doing all this week is soaking up the facts of this horror- story like sponges.

I can understand Jake Humphrey saying that 'viewers are in a turmoil & don't understand what's going on', but when we all read JA avidly & Scarbs has an excellent run-down on hot/cold blowing, mapping, etc., we understand what Ross Brawn, Martin Whitmarsh & Christian Horner are on about.

You can't expect the broadcast media to explain much - they have to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I get the bit about hot/cold blown diffusers but crankcase pressure has been mentioned as a reason why Mercedes are allowed to fire four of their eight cylinders on overrun.

I understand how crankcase pressure exists with pistons charging up and down many thousands of times a minute, perhaps a bit of blow-by of the piston rings, even on overrun. What I don't understand is the connection between that and firing four cylinders, presumably on a much retarded ignition setting.

As a Mclaren fan i'm bitterly disappointed with 5th and 10th respectively. But as an F1 fan this weekend has been a complete shambles, a technical change was meant to be enforced this weekend and it appears there has and hasn't, which has arguably favoured some teams over others. I'm very confused, and now we're apparently heading back to how the cars were run in Valencia after Silverstone?

Yet again Torro Rosso make unusual management decisions. Is it simply poor choices or are they supposed to be contrarian in the way they run the team to give Red Bull information?

James I would love to see an article (when you have time) about Torro Rosso and their performance. Particulary answering questions about their management style and hopefully explaining how a 2nd team with similar chassis, equally competent engine (ferrari v. renault) and shared knowledge can be such a poor relation to the main team.

The FIA under Todt has been the best thing to happen to F1 for so many years that it is difficult for me to go back and find a comparison.

That said, the total mess we see before us now is solely down to the FIA. They started off with good intentions only to find that practicalities (such as blowing up engines) meant that the rules had to be modified to give consideration. What this has done is to give one team a massive advantage from these rule changes.

When you consider past history with these types of changes they have been left to the end of the season to rectify when you have had the main design of the car around such a function / rule. The FIA knew perfectly well this design was happening as early as last season and let this go ahead, so what we are seeing today should come as no surprise.

The FIA have tried to change the rules for good reason but in the process have had to make practical concessions that they have totally unbalanced the F1 field. I doubt the FIA imagined the carnage that has engulfed them when they set out down this path and why I believe they will pull the plug on these changes in the interest of fairness.

I don't really blame the FIA as their intentions were admirable. But as things developed they have become engulfed in this massive birds nest which will serve as a reminder in the future.

Who cares. This isn't the first time they've come in with a rule change mid-season. Remember the mass damper issue? Alonso was running away with the title, they changed the rules, and Renault were suddenly significantly slower. Wish Red Bull would get over it and move on...

I don't think their intentions were remotely admirable. All they offerred was the ridiculous "save fuel/environment" argument which in the context of a global enterprise that burns millions of gallons of fuel a year doesn't amount to .00001%.

The ONLY justification for rules changes at mid-year are safety considerations. Competitive imbalance and some politically correct lip service and not within the scope of consideration.

It's kind of shocking how badly they've cocked this up. The only fair resolution will be to go back to the previous spec, but I doubt all the teams will agree.

Finally Vettel doesn't grab pole FINALLY!!!!!, we can do with more of the same thank you very much but it seems the FIA will have to first ban Red Bull running their front wing before that team's monopoly of pole can even come close to being broken - Gosh OMG!!!! WHEN WILL IT EVER END!

Interesting to see that Ferrari are the team to benefit the most from the off throttle ban. Same old, same old **wink*wink**nudge*nudge**

Well done to the British cavalry.

Paul Di Resta WOW 6th, he definitely pulled the rabbit out the hat on that one & with Jenson Button 5th, well that was the best he could have done with that car unfortunately.

As for Lewis, bless his soul, he just wanted to make sure the fans get their money's worth tomorrow after the rain washout on Friday so decided to save a pair of boots for Sunday so don't blink or you will miss, hold on to your seats for it's gon' be explosive.

Thank goodness Lewis never has the fastest car for look at what we would be missing out on. Go get them Lewis

Okay, here's my predictions for the British Grand Prix.

Since Silverstone rarely favours the pole sitter, am going for a Vettel win (yes I know - unfortunately *Sigh*) and since Webber won it last year, well Webber's goose is cooked matter fact, after his performances this year, I doubt he will win any race this year.

Alonso is due another DNF so may his wish come true.

As for Jenson, he must have been cursed by an ex-girlfriend or something so I doubt he will finish higher than 4th again.

No, Vettel didn't have a good lap, watch it. That was why he was so eager to go again and the rain stopped it.

Webber got lucky, like in Barcelona. Of course then the Webber fan would say that it is Vettel's job to do a good lap but still Webber got lucky.

What is funny is, when Webber is a few hundreds off Vettel, everyone praises Webber like the new Senna (even though he was slower than Vettel..), and now Vettel was slower a few hundreds suddenly Vettel is total crap and there are all kinds of conspiracies floating above.

Maybe just Maybe Webbers style suits this new engine mapping moreso than Vettel. Vettel will get around if if he is not already just unlucky for the rain. Same could be said for Daniel Ricciardo v Luizzi. Rain put a halt to Ricciardo's attempt to qualify higher than his team mate and I think those who know nothing of him will soon. He is the real deal.

This is F1 and bring on the weather to again play with the field for the race.

Webber is quick in changing conditions my worry is that RB will concentrate moreso on Vettel again or thats how it seems to me anyway.

Question why is it always Webbers car that has the issues. Its happened that many times its becomming obvious who's car is getting the attention.

It was noted last year, I think by Newey, that Mark had worked out earlier how to get on the throttle really early in a corner to maximise the blown diffuser. The software changes gave Vettel more. Coulthard has commented that Sebastian works the front tyres more than Mark and the rears less. This might be part of the performance swing - Mark might be gain in pace but still have tyre wear issues relative to Sebastian with these Pirellis.

I missed Ricciardo while he was in Australia (I'm in Canberra), but I agree that Red Bull has signed him up because he is fast, not because he fits any particular demographic. (Seb smiles a fair bit, and Mark and Casey (and Robbie Maddison) cover off on the Australians in motorsport area pretty well). A key thing for his career could be his height and weight (which I have not idea about). Right now I would suspect that the current Ferrari is built for short guys and exploits that.

I think the reliability thing gets over emphasised. Mark has generally had fewer engine issues than Sebastian (it is an external supply), both have had gearbox issues in Canada last year (and now Mark in Valencia), so the failures are rare, both have had several KERS failures.

There is certainly more love from the Red Bull company for Sebastian, but Mark has a greater history with the team and co-owns an F3 with Horner from memory. Fundamentally, he has a weight distribution and centre of gravity disadvantage to Sebastian - although this year the rules have constrained the weight distribution part. The results are what they are, and there will be people such as some fans of Mark, Lewis or Fernando who look to diminish the value of the results that Sebastian has achieved. Red Bull will have a few options, such as Nico Rosberg, but I suspect the team are happy to keep Mark based on performance - and I don't mean someone to come second.

But I don't think the MENTAL goings on this weekend were intended to help Webber. No no, who else seems to have benefitted GREATLY, more or less closed the gap and find themselves locking out the second row?

From the trackside it seemed the back end of the McLaren was moving about alot through Farm/Abbey today so tyre wear could be an issue for them. They didn't look to have the downforce of the Ferraris/Redbulls.

On a few occasions the Ferrari seemed to have a twitchy front end so they'd better hope that doesn't come back to bite them in the arse if we have a wet race. I think their new Redbull style rear wing/DRS is working well and this probably has as much to do with their improvement as the whole blown diffuser thing.

Pity Q3 finished as it did depriving us all of a last minute shootout.

As quali was interrupted it's difficult to be sure that MW has the run on SV. Also explains why LH is back at 10th compared to JB at 5th. Let's hope The Ferraris get a jump on the RBs on the start to make it an interesting race. We also still don't really know how the tyres will behave during the race which could also hopefully spice things up.

It is almost shocking that Barrichello is so mediocre when compared to Maldonado. It seems that Rubens is not able to extract anything from the car while Pastor is better at it.

About the regulations and all the changes - this season is getting more and more disappointing. It is just so confusing. Nobody understands what is really going on and who is influenced more/less...

How can anybody know that the regulations will not be changed two, three, five more times? Where is the guarantee? Already this weekend there were several changes.

Of course, a lot of viewers don't even follow this as they do not read a lot on the Internet but there are also a lot of people who follow this and they see what is happening.

There is nothing wrong if FIA decide to change the rules mid season, they have the right to do this, but there must be some perspective, it must be as equal as possible for everybody and everybody should be influenced the same way.

This weekend is totaly ruined by these regulation events and the most disappointing thing is that you can not be sure that there will be an immediate end to it.

I hope for a RedBull win and hope Mercedes engine cars being further back, cause clearly 1 engine is being favoured at Silverstone. It's funny how yesterday Martin Whitmarsh was going on to say that Renault will get unfair advantage but didn't say a word about Mercedes engines allowed to use engine over-run. But still I respect Martin as a team boss.

What I find most surprising is that Ferrari has not said a word. The team that speaks even when theres no need to speak, has been more quiet these days like never before, clearly there must be something in there, in their silence.

About the qualy. Di Resta doing good job, I find Sutil being most over-rated driver on the grid and I would change him for Hülkenberg for sure. Williams seems to have found some speed, I remember Barrichello and Maldonado being on top of qualy for some time and Maldonado being 7th quickest surprises me big time.

And finally wanted to say the new Silverstone track confuses me. Usually it's 1 or 2 laps and I remember it but I got lost many times watching qualy. I miss the old Silverstone.

What a farce. How on earth they thought this would end up well, I don't know. If I was McLaren I would be marching straight into race control after the race tomorrow and dispute the result, no matter the result. I going to the race tomorrow and already I feel a bit robbed of a true race (my first in person). Without all this mucking about Ferrari and McLaren would still be pressing the Redbulls in race pace so what have we gained....Nothing at all apart from the 2 Brits being down the field....Farce!

Team manager and drivers are asked pointed questions. Why not Whiting et al? Why are they above the rest? I'd think he'd want to be public with discussing his decision-making process. Otherwise there will always be accusations of being for/against certain teams.

Red Bull is not my favorite team, but personally I don't care for the rule-fiddling stuff during the season. They've earned their advantage by doing the better job.

Don't you think we sometimes know or want to know too much? I for one would like the sport to keep some mystery. I don't want to know everything. It's already too democratic and too many people are pulling Charlie each way to have their say. 10% - suck it up and get on with it. Lobbyists are the worst think to happen to politics and now here it is in F1 again. FIA should get input then dictate in my view. You don't like the rules? Tell me about it when I ask your input next time.

Please don't compare the FIA to FIFA. FIFA is a joke. At least the FIA seems to care about the fans. These rule changes are due to a perceived loss in control of the development of an area the FIA sees as wasteful. Burning fuel for downforce goes along the same lines as the "fan" car and they were both banned.

And no sport has public meetings between team principals. This isn't Jerry Springer...

Didn't the FIA act on exhaust blown diffusers because they were told by several teams that there would be protests otherwise? I guess the FIA felt that protests would bring the sport into disrepute. Whereas, this flip-flopping on the rules...

With hindsight, the only mistake the FIA made was not postponing the changes until the various complaints from the engine manufacturers had been sorted out.

If there has indeed been agreement among the teams to postpone any change until 2012 I assume they've also agreed not to protest in the meanwhile.

The protests wouldn't have brought the sport into disrepute, they would probably have erased the Constructor's points for any car found to be using an exhaust blown diffuser, which is everyone except for those running a Cosworth engine.

If they're going back to Valencia-spec after this race though will it be a return to Vettel/RB domination. It would be a pity for the championship!

Great job by Di Resta. In fairness, Sutil wasn't far off in Q2 but 6th is remarkable. He reminds me a bit of DC in his Mclaren days or JYS - quite serious and corporate. I like him though - he seems v grounded and humble. In contrast to a certain other British driver!

I am stunned how many are making excuses for Mark... He did great today. I don't think he needs conspiracy theories. There is no way on earth RB was shutting down Mark's blown D before today, no team tries to hurt one of their drivers it makes no sense. He and Seb have the same car, Mark has always gone very well at Silverstone and he did so again today. Would have loved to see everyone get one more run to see what Seb and Alonso could do...

Congrats to Webber for his 2nd pole of the season - the only man to take the place from Vettel.

Whatever the intention behind the diffuser row was (hopefully to rein in the rampant Red Bull), it appears to have only made an impact to the only team to steal victory from Vettel this year - McLaren.

I can't imagine Lewis will be happy being 2 seconds off the quali pace - perhaps it can be put down to a poor lab, but even Jens couldn't do much better than 1.5 off the pace. Clearly, McLaren have been hard hit.

If the rules are to be scrapped and we go back to a "Valencia" spec rule book, Germany can't come too soon. Although, I suspect that many fans will have turned off by then if Vettel romps to another commanding race victory with the rest squabbling over seconds.

Ah! Well, can't fault the FIA for trying...

Personally, I'm hoping Alonso wins, if only to break up the Bull hegemony!

Was the decision by McLaren to run Hamilton on an old set of tyres during the quickest part of Q3 more likely the reason for the performance than the rule change. Not sure if Button was on the old tyre too.

Time for Button is wrong his was a 131.898 you have him slower than Di Resta and Maldonado. How good a result was this for Di Resta was it luck with the weather in q3 or was he 6th place quick anyway, either way very impressive!!

Well, from all the comments on this site, every fan bagging the other teams drivers, Formula 1 is truly alive.I love it! All I can say is Dan give it your best! You must be on cloud 9. It makes Indy Car look like little league.Lets keep this sport exciting and never return to the Schumacher boring era. Promote more young talent.

It's a shame to see McLaren struggling. Not for them, I say that thinking in F1 politics & media pressure from now. If Macca had done a good job today, the story would have been completely different from the BBC and other British media. This is not the case and we are expecting "fair" analysis and verdicts on F1 politics. The blindfold of justice has a hole that tells us that is more concerned about pleasing everyone that deliver true justice. The illegal advantages should not be negotiated or discussed, just apply the law. Problem here is a large list of FIA decissions about technical issues: mass damper, blown diffussers, flexible wings, etc. F1 is more than races, much more. Everyone has to do their job: just putting pressure on his side.

There seems to be a bit of a contradiction in Mr Horner's argument, or at the very least he's not explaining properly. They say that limiting throttle opening to 10% will hurt their engine reliability but at the same time they complain that this limy will make the race at a disadvantage.

It seems to me that the connection between these two points is not clear. Is he implying that they will have to compromise the engine to ensure that it does not fail? Or is te reliability issue a cynical way of defending their performance?

Also, could you shed some light into Mr. Whitmarsh's mention of te Mercedes engine being compromised?